It took me a couple of tries to get the combination of the H-Alpha image with the LRGB but in the end I'm pleased with the results. Barnard's loop is impressive, and I think in this image I framed its most attractive area.

[Show image details]

[Hide image details]

DATE November 24th, 2009 PHOTO Exposure: L: 9 x 5', RGB: 6x5' each, Ha: 5 x 20' Total: 3.9 hours Focal: 385mm, f/3.6

EQUIPMENT Imaging Scope: FSQ 106 EDX w/Reducer Camera: STL11k Guide Camera: StarShoot Autoguider Imaging Scope: EM-400

SITE & CONDITIONS H-Alpha data: Henry Coe State Park, California LRGB data: Henry Coe State Park, California Seeing: Average Transparency: Good SOFTWARE Stacking: DeepSkyStaker Processing: PixInsight & Photoshop

This image is a widefield around the Flaming Star Nebula in the constellation Auriga, that also includes other objects such as the Tadpoles, the M38 cluster (top-left of the image), etc.

I started taking 20x10' of L and 5x5' (bin 2x2) of each RGB. This was last Saturday from the DARC Observatory.

When I started processing it, and as I was trying to pull out the fainter nebulosity, the stars started to dominate the field. I simply couldn't contain them no matter what I did. So on Monday I decided to take a short trip to Montebello and captured 6x20' of H-Alfa, to see if then, with more signal in the nebulosity and smaller stars I could better manage the image.

I added 20% of the processed luminance to the also processed Ha, but I didn't add any Ha to the color - I used only the color information from the RGBs (more on that later). The Ha left the better SNR areas a bit soft but I was much more pleased with the results.

The color was originally a bit unconvincing, so I first did a color calibration by neutralizing the background taking one small area as a reference, and then, selecting an area mainly packed with white-looking stars and balance the whole image assuming the average color of the stars in that selection was indeed white.

The final image presented the often criticized salmon hues, but my goal here wasn't to depict "real" colors, rather, being able to show as many details as possible from the nebulosity that truly expands across the entire field, and doing so while still presenting somewhat approximate (not accurate) color information in the image. As it is, in order to achieve this goal with the data I had collected, the selected method gave me exactly what I wanted.

It's a very interesting field, packed with interesting objects not often seen all in the same image. I hope you like it!

[Show image details]

[Hide image details]

DATE November 21st, 2009 PHOTO Exposure: L: 20 x 10', RGB: 5x5' each, Ha: 6 x 20' Total: 6.6 hours Focal: 385mm, f/3.6

EQUIPMENT Imaging Scope: FSQ 106 EDX w/Reducer Camera: STL11k Guide Camera: StarShoot Autoguider Imaging Scope: EM-400

SITE & CONDITIONS DARC Observatory    Seeing: Very Good    Transparency: Good Montebello OSP    Seeing: Very Good    Transparency: Average SOFTWARE Stacking: DeepSkyStaker Processing: PixInsight & Photoshop

Here's my "November 2009 project"!

In this image I first tried to put into practice a method to pull the dust out that I had been thinking these past few days, and I didn't end up too thrilled about the results. It induced some "blur/denoise-like" effects early in the processing, and it also fabricated bloated star halos in the mid-sized stars (Rigel was put where it belongs with a quick HDRWT).

So after the fact I went back and did some reprocessing from scratch treating large and small scale structures separately, then merged the results to the previous image. This helped me reduce some of the halos (I did't bother with the big ones because those are "optical presents" not the effect of bad processing), keep the stars under control, enhance the witch head a bit, etc. but didn't remove the denoise/blur effect on the background.

I still think the initial processing thingy may work, I just need to play with it a bit more and be more careful next time... Nevermind the halo aroud Rigel is purple, although that's how it came out.

The image is in fact a 2 pane mosaic with data from 3 frames, each taken from a different site, with a total exposure of almost 12 hours.

This image was selected as NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day on December 29th, 2009. and then also on November 1st, 2012.

[Show image details]

[Hide image details]

DATE November 16th, 2009 PHOTO Exposure:    First frame: L: 10 x 15', RGB: 6x5' each,    Second frame: L: 13 x 15', RGB: 7x5' each,    Third frame: L: 10 x 10', RGB: 5x5' each, Total: 11.9 hours Focal: 385mm, f/3.6

EQUIPMENT Imaging Scope:  FSQ 106 EDX w/Reducer Camera:  STL11k Guide Camera:  StarShoot Autoguider Imaging Scope:  EM-400

SITE & CONDITIONS First frame: DARC Observatory, California Second frame: Dinosaur Point, California Third frame: Henry Coe State Park, California Seeing: Good to Excellent Transparency: Very Good SOFTWARE Stacking: DeepSkyStaker Processing: Registar (to align the mosaic), PixInsight & Photoshop